Privatization of education sector

Sabria S. Jawhar

About Me

was named by the Dubai-based Arabian Business magazine as one of the "world's most influential Arabs" in its 2010 "Power 100" list. She earned her PhD in applied and Educational Linguistics from Newcastle Upon Tyne University, UK, and works as an Assistant professor at King Saud bin Abdul Aziz University for Health Sciences, Nursing college. She writes for the Huffington Post, Arabisto.com and the Arab News, an English-language daily newspaper based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She previously served as the Saudi Gazette's Jeddah bureau chief and is one of the leading women journalists in the Kingdom. Her commentaries on terrorism, women’s rights and reform in Saudi Arabia also are carried by leading websites, blogs and print publications worldwide.
In the summer of 2005, she earned a Fellowship at the prestigious Korean Press Foundation and Yonsei Communication Research Institute in Seoul, South Korea. In June 2007 she participated as a panelist in the United Nation's 15th International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East in Tokyo, Japan.

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Jeddah energy summit on Sunday was a big eye-opener. I always thought the US government under President Bush bordered on delusional but know I am convinced.

King Abudullah scheduled just two weeks ago the summit to discuss the skyrocketing oil prices, which are now hovering around $135 per barrel. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thought the summit was so important that he showed up himself.

Bush, on the other hand, thought it was important enough to, well, send Energy Secretary Samuel W.Bodman, who did a lot of sulking but little to further dialogue about how to curb high prices.And this is what I find so troubling and perplexing.

There is this sense of self-entitlement and finger-pointing among Americans, but little in the way of self-examination when it comes to America's role in oil consumption.Certainly it's debatable whether demand is exceeding supply.

Yes, oil consumption in India and China has risen dramatically. But is this the cause of high oil prices? It's possible, but not likely the sole reason. The US government seems to believe it's the only reason for high prices at the exclusion of evidence that oil speculation and lack of oil refineries are helping the drive in high prices.

We've come to learn that Westerners look for easy answers to complex issues and are quick to demonize foreign leaders based on little more than old prejudices, stereotypes. I'm half expecting some Western leader to demand the technology for magic flying carpets as transportation alternative because we are, after all, Arabs.

We have in US Congress Democrats considering withholding selling the Kingdom military hardware to Saudi Arabia until we supply more oil.They want to appear tough on oil suppliers, but they can't be tough with their own president or at least make an effort to protect the integrity of their own constitution.

We have New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman comparing us to drug pushers. It's everybody's fault but the Americans. Whatever happened to that old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity? What happened to sacrifice?Didn't the US learn anything from the long gas lines of the 1970s?

From where I sit, they had more than 35 years to explore alternative energy sources. Did they honestly think that once oil production and delivery resumed at normal levels after the 1970s, a gas crunch would never happen again?Americans in the 1970s used the odd-even system to ease gas consumption and long lines at gas stations.

The system allowed motorists with license plates ending with an even number to purchase gas on one day while those with odd numbers bought fuel on the alternate day. The Americans used to have meatless Tuesdays and implemented strict gas rationing during World War II. Americans then knew about sacrifice.But what did the Bush administration offer following the dark days of9/11. Spend, spend, spend. Visit the malls. Shop at Wal-Mart. Gas up and take a drive.

Now gas is $4 a gallon and there are some pretty angry American motorists. Now they think that maybe engaging in a seven-year spending spree was not such a good idea. But their leaders are saying, "Hey,it's not us. The Arabs won't give us more oil."If only the answer was that simple.

You've got to give Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain a little more credit than George Bush. He wants to start drilling for more oil off the coast of the United States. But he's not exactly on the environmental-friendly bandwagon. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is a little more realistic. He wants an investigation into oil market speculators.He blames them for the high prices.

At the summit in Jeddah, US energy secretary Bodman grumpily said there "is no evidence we can find that speculators are driving futures prices."Yet Senator Joseph Lieberman, the former Democrat now serving as McCain's handmaiden, is leading a Senate committee to conduct hearing son whether speculators are driving the huge price increases.

So apparently the US government can't make up its mind whether Saudi Arabia is holding oil as hostage or if something else is at work here.And we must consider what Akira Amari, Japan's minister of economy,trade and industry, cryptically said at the summit.

He warned that the price increases is leading some nations to consider the introduction of alternative fuels. He called it a "natural self-defense measure" that would "inevitably reduce the revenues of oil producing countries in the medium- to long-term."Oh, really.

A natural self-defense? If they thought of a natural self-defense and created alternative fuel sources back in the 1970s,oil-consuming nations today wouldn't be in the fix they find themselves. Perhaps it's time the West bucked up and took responsibility for its reckless actions over the past 35 years and stop looking for demons to blame.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Last week energy summit in Jeddah on Sunday was a big eye-opener. I always thought the US government under President Bush bordered on delusional but know I am convinced.

King Abudullah scheduled just two weeks ago the summit to discuss the skyrocketing oil prices, which are now hovering around $135 per barrel. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thought the summit was so important that he showed up himself.

Bush, on the other hand, thought it was important enough to, well, send Energy Secretary Samuel W.Bodman, who did a lot of sulking but little to further dialogue about how to curb high prices.And this is what I find so troubling and perplexing.

There is this sense of self-entitlement and finger-pointing among Americans, but little in the way of self-examination when it comes to America's role in oil consumption.Certainly it's debatable whether demand is exceeding supply.

Yes, oil consumption in India and China has risen dramatically. But is this the cause of high oil prices? It's possible, but not likely the sole reason. The US government seems to believe it's the only reason for high prices at the exclusion of evidence that oil speculation and lack of oil refineries are helping the drive in high prices.

We've come to learn that Westerners look for easy answers to complex issues and are quick to demonize foreign leaders based on little more than old prejudices, stereotypes. I'm half expecting some Western leader to demand the technology for magic flying carpets as transportation alternative because we are, after all, Arabs.

We have in US Congress Democrats considering withholding selling the Kingdom military hardware to Saudi Arabia until we supply more oil.They want to appear tough on oil suppliers, but they can't be tough with their own president or at least make an effort to protect the integrity of their own constitution.We have New York Times columnist

Thomas Friedman comparing us to drug pushers. It's everybody's fault but the Americans. Whatever happened to that old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity? What happened to sacrifice?Didn't the US learn anything from the long gas lines of the 1970s?From where I sit, they had more than 35 years to explore alternative energy sources.

Did they honestly think that once oil production and delivery resumed at normal levels after the 1970s, a gas crunch would never happen again?Americans in the 1970s used the odd-even system to ease gas consumption and long lines at gas stations. The system allowed motorists with license plates ending with an even number to purchase gas on one day while those with odd numbers bought fuel on the alternate day.

The Americans used to have meatless Tuesdays and implemented strict gas rationing during World War II. Americans then knew about sacrifice.But what did the Bush administration offer following the dark days of9/11. Spend, spend, spend. Visit the malls. Shop at Wal-Mart.

Gas up and take a drive.Now gas is $4 a gallon and there are some pretty angry American motorists. Now they think that maybe engaging in a seven-year spending spree was not such a good idea. But their leaders are saying, "Hey,it's not us.

The Arabs won't give us more oil."If only the answer was that simple. You've got to give Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain a little more credit than George Bush. He wants to start drilling for more oil off the coast of the United States. But he's not exactly on the environmental-friendly bandwagon.

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is a little more realistic. He wants an investigation into oil market speculators.He blames them for the high prices.At the summit in Jeddah, US energy secretary Bodman grumpily said there "is no evidence we can find that speculators are driving futures prices."

Yet Senator Joseph Lieberman, the former Democrat now serving as McCain's handmaiden, is leading a Senate committee to conduct hearing son whether speculators are driving the huge price increases. So apparently the US government can't make up its mind whether Saudi Arabia is holding oil as hostage or if something else is at work here.

And we must consider what Akira Amari, Japan's minister of economy,trade and industry, cryptically said at the summit.He warned that the price increases is leading some nations to consider the introduction of alternative fuels. He called it a "natural self-defense measure" that would "inevitably reduce the revenues of oil producing countries in the medium- to long-term."Oh, really.

A natural self-defense? If they thought of a natural self-defense and created alternative fuel sources back in the 1970s,oil-consuming nations today wouldn't be in the fix they find themselves. Perhaps it's time the West bucked up and took responsibility for its reckless actions over the past 35 years and stop looking for demons to blame.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

PROBABLY the first conflict I faced as a graduate student at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom was how to deal with the philosophy course, which is required for my Ph.D.

Conflict? What conflict? Westerners would be puzzled over my dilemma, but it is a real issue for Saudis in particular and Muslims in general. Philosophy is not taught in Saudi schools and I do not know why. However, it seems to me that the rule that philosophers believe that there is the possibility of truth from any one source and we should follow the argument wherever it leads might be the reason.

Further, studying philosophy means the study of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, which opens a whole new can of worms for Muslims.I brought my concerns to my professor and mentor, Tim Kelsall, who asked me one question: Do I want to be recognized as a Saudi expert in my chosen field or as an international authority? The answer was obvious and the issue ended there.

To limit my field of study meant limiting my horizons. It meant limiting the goals and career opportunities I have set for myself. What university or future employer would take me seriously if I rejected taking internationally recognized studies because I was too timid to reach beyond my comfort zone.

I learned quickly enough that I had my understanding of philosophy to simplistic Freud and Marxist theories and not much wrongly boiled down else. I discovered (and this may be obvious to Western students but not to me) that philosophy concerns itself with the nature of knowledge and reality, human nature, man’s place in the world among other living creatures, and of course, the love of wisdom.

As I studied further, I discovered that there were many early Muslim philosophers who embraced this love of wisdom. Actually, I came to know that there is a whole field of Islamic philosophy.

This was brought home to me while attending this week an intensive journalism summer school program at Lund University in Helsingborg, Sweden. I am among the 100 or so students from Belarus, Slovenia, India, Pakistan, the Ukraine and other countries. Most students are from Eastern Europe, and I appear to be the only female Muslim among the group. What my fellow students take for granted, this course for me opens new doors.

The program identifies itself as focusing on journalism, but it really covers a wide range of topics, most notably social epistemology, feminism, political theory, intelligent design versus evolution, and even Swedish modernity and municipal planning. It’s a hodge-podge of subjects, but I guess you have to be there for it to make sense.

Social epistemology is an intriguing subject taught by Steve Fuller, professor of sociology at Warwick University in the United Kingdom, in which he fuses philosophy and sociology in science studies. Fuller is well known for his argument that religion and science go hand in hand. Religion, he says, whether it’s Christianity, Judaism or Islam, pushes people to study science. Simply, religion is the root of science.

His lectures on early 20th century journalists and academics promoting various schools of thought on science and philosophy are excellent.Joni Seager, a professor of feminist environmentalism and geography at Hunter College in New York City, and Jeremy Shearmur, who teaches political theory at the Australian National University, are other prominent academics serving as guest lecturers at Lund University.

We can sit around and talk about Freud’s theory of origins of sexual behavior among adults or Marx’s examinations of the social classes, but at the end of the day it doesn’t shake my faith or the beliefs I grew up with.

What Fuller, Seager, Shearmur and the other professors are doing is teaching me that wisdom and the pursuit of knowledge are limitless. And it’s not necessary, or even desirable, to give up one’s core beliefs to understand and appreciate different philosophical arguments.

Last week I wrote about my brief experiences in the United States and my impressions of how compassion and aid to people in distress are institutionalized through policy and laws, and how we in Saudi Arabia seem to lack these basic concepts when it comes to emergency medical care.

Predictably, I received mails from some Saudis who suggested that if I love the West so much then I should stay there. Or maybe I should be a good Saudi girl and come home to avoid further Western corruption.

But what does that say about us? Should we remain in a protective shell and wrap our arms around our wrong beliefs about the world as if they were precious stones? Or do we pursue knowledge and engage in intellectual exercises to examine the differences between evolution and intelligent design, or even man’s place in nature and the environment.

Some day as a teacher I will be questioned by curious students about these very issues. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes of some of my teachers, who told me to just shut up and listen. I want to provide answers, or at least an opinion. It won’t make me any less a Saudi or a Muslim. It will just make me a good teacher.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sabria S. JawharI returned recently from my first trip to the United States to attend a conference in Pasadena, California, just outside of Los Angeles.

As with most first-timers to America, I found many of my preconceptions of the country wrong. One has a tendency to generalize and stereotype people only to find that they are just like the rest of us. Americans are friendly, open, frank and curious. They were interested in me and what I had to say.

Naturally, I behaved like a tourist when I found the time. I visited Universal Studios and got the tourist view of Hollywood. I strolled down Hollywood Boulevard and took in the street performers. And, of course, I went to Disneyland, wore my Minnie Mouse ears and enjoyed the rides.

It’s the nuances, however, of the country and how its citizens treat one another that really impressed me. How professionals, clerks and authorities engage each other while conducting business. How courtesy and respect is the rule of the day no matter what job a person performs.Does this translate simply into saying “please” and “thank you” when purchasing a pack of chewing gum at a convenience store?Yes, it does.

But it’s the larger picture that matters, such as a crisis or emergency. And this contrasts sharply with how Saudis go about the business of helping each other in time of need. This was brought home to me while I was having a late lunch with a colleague at a restaurant in a Los Angeles suburb.An 84-year-old woman had fallen on the floor. She hurt her back and was in extreme pain.

The restaurant staff without prompting from anyone immediately called for an ambulance and the local fire department’s paramedic team, which is similar to our Red Crescent, arrived within three minutes and treated the woman, taking her blood pressure, and asking many questions.The poor woman didn’t want to go to the hospital for treatment but the paramedics insisted and refused to take no for an answer.

In less than 10 minutes she was placed on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. The paramedics were friendly, efficient and professional.They knew they disrupted our lunch with their presence, and stopped by our table for a friendly chat and a joke to make us comfortable before leaving.

The other patrons in the restaurant didn’t blink an eye over this little drama because it’s routine, but it certainly amazed me. I’ve seen these scenes in American movies and thought it was a Hollywood invention. But it turns out it’s the real thing.

The incident reminded me of a far more serious accident that occurred in Riyadh with much more tragic ending. Muhannad Abu Daiah is a true Saudi treasure. He is not well-known among the Saudi public, but he is responsible for 22 inventions in physics and robotics. He led a Saudi physics team in a world competition in South Korea in 2004 and won the championship. He created the first Arabic website on physics.

He is a rare breed who has earned international recognition for his work.Not long ago he was in involved a traffic accident and badly injured. Red Crescent was delayed in arriving. When the crew did arrive, they loaded him up in the ambulance, but passed several government hospitals to take him onto a private one.

Once at the private hospital, treatment was delayed six hours until his family could arrive and sign the papers. The surgery to repair his right leg took nine hours, but ultimately failed to fix the damage. His family paid SR80,000. Once the bill was settled, he was transferred to a specialist hospital, but was not admitted for 24 hours despite pleas from his family and several highly placed officials.

This poor fellow, who has done so much to enhance the prestige of Saudi Arabia in the international community with his fine work, was forced to have his leg amputated.So what happened here? What happened to our humanity and compassion?How is it that Saudi Arabia can donate $50 million to the victims of the earthquake in China but can’t find the will to treat a traffic accident victim with dignity.

The difference between the way Saudis treat the people in an emergency and how the Americans do it is that Americans have institutionalized – through policies, laws and common sense – a standard practice on how to treat people who are injured or in desperate need of treatment no matter their station in life.The old woman in the restaurant was nobody important except to her family and friends, yet the paramedics were kind by calling her “sweetie” and treated her as if she was the most important person on earth at the moment.

In Saudi Arabia, the hospital that was responsible for Muhannad Abu Daiah’s treatment treated him as if he were more trouble than he was worth because no one knew who he was – as if that should make a difference.We should keep in mind that hospital administrators, doctors, Red Crescent employees and even nurses represent our society and are viewed at varying levels as persons of authority.

They represent us and our government. Our perceptions of our government are based on the treatment we receive from these individuals. The paramedics who treated the old woman earned my respect that day. I can’t say the same for the people responsible for treating Muhannad Abu Daiah.

I know there are people out there who will view my opinions as being product of American brainwashing. Not so fast. I was there only a week. But I know what I saw. And if it came down to being treated during an emergency in a Los Angeles suburb or in Riyadh, well I think in this case the Americans would win out.